Firefox XUL-Based Add-On Compatibility Will be Dropped After Some Time

[Shemhamforash]

"Mozilla developers have announced that in Firefox 45, a new implementation of the API for browser extensions will be added. It is called WebExtensions and uses native HTML technology. WebExtensions will make it possible to create extensions compatible with Google Chrome and vice versa."

"Support for these new type of addons is already implemented in the addons.mozilla.org repository. It will be rolled out to the public along with Firefox 44. By Firefox 47, the implementation of WebExtensions is expected to be in the beta stage. Finally, in Firefox 48, WebExtensions will reach a usable stage.

After that, support for classic (XUL-based) add-ons will be dropped after some time! It is not clear for how long the support for classic add-ons will remain available in Firefox."

"While WebExtensions add-ons can be used in other browsers like Opera or Chrome, the potential loss of many useful Firefox extensions is so disappointing that many users are likely to stop using Firefox. These changes, along with the signature enforcement for extensions, which cannot be turned off starting with Firefox 44 can significantly reduce the flexibility and the power of Firefox. It is quite possible that many things possible today through add-ons in Firefox will not be available using the new WebExtensions APIs. For example, I am skeptical on whether my favorite Tab Mix Plux XUL-based add-on can be possible with the new extensions model. Once XUL-based add-on support is dropped, it may not be possible to create such an add-on."

Source: https://winaero.com/blog/firefox-will...compatibility/

This article was posted on December 28, 2015 by Sergey Tkachenko.